Her plan had been simple; Lure the weak minded, weak magicked Master of Saber to her, turn him into her thrall in order to gain control of the powerful Servant of the Blade, and use the combined might of Saber, Assassin and herself, Caster, to crush their opposition.

Too bad it seemed the Master of Rider was not as uncaring to the boy as it had seemed, given that her Servant was here, with the boy sprawled behind him. Caster cursed her incompetent Servant for letting Rider get past him. His ongoing duel with Saber is no excuse!

Rider was just as striking in person as he appeared through her scrying. His dark hair and tanned complexion, along with his facial features, were powerful clues to his identity as a Greek Hero. His green eyes raged like the sea at storm, his mouth twisted into a warrior's ferocious grin, he looked the part of concurring hero, ready to take on any challenge, face any foe, slay any monster. Use any innocent maiden for the good of his quest. The Witch of Betrayal was intimately familiar with his type, and while she did not recognise this particular hero, she saw in him the same traits as Heracles, as Odysseus, as Theseus. As Jason.

He infuriated her on principal, and now he stood there, defying her with that cocky grin!

"Isn't he a bit young for your tastes?" Rider asked, mocking her. She had no doubt he at least suspected her reasons for kidnapping the boy, and he surely knew better than to think she would stood so low as to do what he insinuated. As had been done to her.

But she can't let him know he was getting to her, so she smiled her own mocking smile, and kept her voice smooth and calm. "True, but I can't be too picky, now can I? He has something I want, I have something all men want, so why shouldn't I offer him a deal, hmm?"

The boy looked completely lost, as though her spell was still partially clouding his mind. She doubted it was, but some people react oddly to magic. The Servant, however, seemed to have decided to play along, continuing the game of barbs and hidden meanings. This one likely has some experience with politics, probably born to some poor princess or foolish king.

"An offer he couldn't refuse? Modern laws were made with the use of drugs in mind, but I'm pretty sure magic counts as well." The Servant of the Mount shook his head, as though admonishing her. He seemed to be really enjoying their little metaphor. "I'm afraid that this young gentleman is spoken for. Can't let some old crone take advantage of him before my cute little Master does, now can I?" He asked.

The boy seemed to have finally caught on by the end of it, if his surprised "What?" was any indication. Caster in turn cursed herself for not realising it- the tale of a young maiden hiding her affection behind scorn was ancient when she was young. She turned that anger at her foe. The old crone barb, while childish, still rankled her.

"Oh? Well, you seem to have forgotten that you're in my domain now. And a Caster in her Workshop is at her strongest!" Rider tensed at that, sensing their banter at an end, before charging forward, most likely to draw her fire away from the boy, counting on her to first target the greater threat. She had no compunctions against obliging him- she needed the boy alive, after all.

With a single word of power, she began her assault. Spells took the form of orbs of pure power, charging forward at the rushing Servant, forcing him to change his path rather than run face first into oncoming death. Rider danced around her barrage, the orbs of power crashing into the concrete floor. The Agility of the Rider class was formidable, but so was her skill, and his destination was known to her- after all, it was her. One of her orbs struck his chest, knocking him back, but causing no visible damage. She frowned. While the spell was nowhere near powerful enough to fell a Heroic Spirit in a single blow, it should have at least showed some signs of damage. Regardless, her barrage was sufficient to keep him at bay, the force of each spell that struck knocking him back, halting his advance. Seeing the futility of it, he paused his assault. Caster did so as well, deciding to conserve her resources.

"That's some impressive magic you have there." The Servant of the Mount whistled appreciatively, although it came out sounding powerful and shrill, more like the sort of whistle done to call attention than to express admiration. "Although I suppose that is to be expected of a Servant of the Caster class." He seemed content to return to their earlier banter. As though time was all he needed. Which it probably was- she would have to back off come dawn, but that was many hours away, so he clearly had another plan. She just needed to figure out what it was.

"And you seem to have some impressive Magic Resistance, to emerge unscathed. Although clearly not sufficient to ignore even these paltry attacks." Have him think she was holding back, that her assault was the barest use of her power…

Rider laughed. It was not a pleasant sound, like those heroes gave when one of their companions told an amusing jest. It was harsh, and somewhat insane, as though he had lost his mind. The boy, still on the ground at the edge of her vision, seemed somewhat disturbed by the sound. In truth, so was she, but she hid it better. Rider had given the impression of a stable individual before, a hero devoted to his little girl of a Master. A charismatic and friendly individual who you could put your trust into. Was it all a mask, which was cracking so easily before her? Or was this like the rage he had shown at Heracles?

"Funny. You know what else is funny? Your arrogance. You think yourself clever, floating out of reach, instead of facing me. Don't worry, I get it. I'm familiar with facing foes far more powerful than I, forcing me to fight with my head rather than just my power. You're clearly Greek, the casting spells in Greek kind of gives it away, so you definitely recognise my friend here…"

Caster tensed, anticipating an attack by Rider's hound, rising higher into the air. The beast could appear from any of the shadows on the ground, but it should be unable to reach her at this height. Rider gazed at her calmly, the momentary madness of his laughter seemingly forgotten. Why was he unworried? She was beyond his reach, and the shadows remained unmoving, his pet nowhere to be seen…

It was only her instincts and the magical barrier she always formed behind her, weary of being backstabbed as she had done to so many others, that saved her. Without even the faintest sound, a dark shape crashed into her back, her body twisting aside just in time to make the blow a glancing one, sending her into a spin. As she regained her balance in mid-air, she turned to her assailant. At first glance, it seemed to be composed of shadows, but the moonlight soon illuminated the beast, shining off of its fur. It was a beautiful mare, dark as night, with wide wings that beat to keep it aloft, sending winds tugging at her robes. The pegasus gave a loud neigh, before darting down to her master. Rider smiled at the mare, as though greeting an old friend. Which, Caster realised, he was.

"Hey there Blackjack, how you doing man?" He stroked the beast's forehead with one hand, the other holding her cheek. She whinnied a response, lashing her tail and shuffling her hooves, making loud clopping sounds on the paved surface. Rider's smile seemed to widen further. "Yeah, sure, I'll get you some sugar cubes later. Look, I know it's late, and you just got here, but we need to get this kid home and this mean sorceress is in the way… Don't worry; I doubt she can turn you into a newt."

"Can he understand it?" Caster wondered, watching in shock as Rider jumped atop his new mount. She had initially believed it to be that hellhound of his, but it appears his legend contained multiple. A Hero with the endurance to survive a blow from Heracles, a Hound and Pegasus of pure darkness at his beck and call… Who was he?

The pegasus leapt to the air, and the battle resumed. The addition of a third dimension to the battlefield meant Caster had to apply more pressure to keep them at bay, using up much of her carefully accumulated mana. The mare was faster than Rider, and able to rise higher or drop lower in addition to the spins, sudden stops and accelerations. Throughout it all, Rider remained on his mount, with his eyes trained on his target. It was unnerving, although expected given his class. This battle was not going her way, and Caster had no wish to waste more power. Her original bid failed, but it was merely her taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity. While success would have accelerated her plans, failure was inconsequential in the long term.

Firing a single bolt in the direction of Saber's Master, Caster floated higher as Rider moved to intercept it. The pegasus dove, Rider's sword striking the orb from mid-air. Sensing the battle to be over, the mare touched down, her rider dismounting. He turned back towards her "Had enough?"

"It is clear killing you would take more effort than I am willing to expend at the moment." She scoffed, floating higher still. Keep an appearance of strength, as though he is merely unworthy of her time. "It would have been nice to get control of the boy and his Servant, but it appears the opportunity truly was too good to be true. You may leave, Assassin will not stop you. Deliver your Master her toy; I will take it from her in time."

Rider snorted. "The mighty Hero Caster, taking toys from children. I can see why you ascended to the Throne. You are truly an inspirational woman." He shook his head, turning back towards the boy and picking him up by his collar. The boy's protests fell on deaf ears as the mare knelt to allow her master to deposit him upon her back. As the intruder walked away with his prize, Caster dematerialised. While the amount of prana she was forced to waste was irritating, this fight was not without its benefits. She knew more of Rider than she had before, and forced him to reveal a second mount. Now, she just needed to try and discover his identity.

'Blackjack, an odd name…'

Sisters Once More

Have another chapter. I'm not sure when I'll next update, mostly because I don't have much of an idea for the plot, other than rehashing a bunch of canon, which is no fun. The Servant page I wrote for Percy was under the assumption that I will not be continuing this story at all, and is not entirely correct, partially due to me changing my mind several times.

Blackjack being omitted from the Servant stat sheet is intentional, however, as he falls under neither skill nor Noble Phantasm. Same with Mrs O'Leary.

You will notice that Caster refers to Blackjack as a "mare" and as a "she". This is a reference to how Blackjack is referred to in his first appearance in Sea of Monsters, where he is trapped on Luke's ship. When it was pointed out to him, Riordan answered "Either Percy's mixed up, or it's a mistake by the author, which, of course, could never happen". I seriously doubt that Percy, as a son of Poseidon, Lord of Horses, would mistake a stallion for a mare, and considering that a mistake by the author can never happen, I propose a solution: Blackjack is Trans. Biologically female, Percy's powers would tell him what Blackjack was, physically: female. Once he actually talks to the pegasus, he learns of his mistake and thus refers to him by the proper gender pronoun. Caster has no such benefit, and so accidentally misgenders our favourite flying equine.

The fight here gave me a lot of trouble, otherwise this would have been out months ago. I mainly wrote it because I wanted to introduce Blackjack by having him sneak attack Medea from behind, because Shadow Horse. Other scenes I have on my mind:

Zoe's vengeance on Heracles through Riptide.

Percy trying to outwit Gilgamesh, and getting his semi-divine ass handed to him.

Some sort of sweet scene with Percy/Mrs O'Leary and Illya (he knows a few things about parents staying away "because I have to").

Percy teasing Rin and Sakura about Shirou.